Earlier this week, I gave a tour to a family exploring our school for their sixth-grade daughter, who has been homeschooled.
She kept referring to Hebrew Academy as a “brick-and-mortar institution”. They were here to explore what it could look like, to learn in a more traditional setting.
She meant it respectfully. But the phrase kept catching me off guard.
When I walked into our Parent Coffee and Gratitude Breakfast the next morning and looked around the room, the word institution couldn’t have felt farther from the truth.
We’re not brick and mortar.
We’re not walls and systems and scheduled days.
We’re not just a school building.
We are people.
We are presence.
We are parents who say yes, not because it’s convenient, but because it matters.
The morning could be described as simple: coffee, bagels, and parents from across every division, preschool to high school. And yet, the room carried an energy you can’t fake.
It felt like heart.
It felt like investment.
It felt like what’s possible when people show up not just for their kids, but for each other.
It reminded me of something I keep learning over and over:
When we give from a place of purpose, not pressure, it fills us.
We also took a moment to honor two parents who’ve done exactly that—Brandyss and Karen, both of whom are moving with their families on to new chapters.
As Chassidim, we don’t say goodbye because when you bring your purpose into the spaces you’re in, it doesn’t disappear when you leave. It carries forward.
Their impact isn’t leaving.
It’s expanding.
To every parent who showed up this morning
It was a reminder of what’s already here.
We are not brick and mortar.
We are a family that builds together.
And this morning, we felt it.
If you're a parent considering Hebrew Academy, just know: you're not just enrolling your child. You're joining a family that believes in raising children who know who they are, where they come from, and why they matter. You're joining a place that does more than educate: it shapes identity, inspires values, and builds the kind of leadership that lasts a lifetime.